4.1.2 - Working Model Of Memory

Question 1

Who created the theory +why

Answer 1

Baddely and hitch -
- believed the STM store in the msm was too simplistic
- believed the stm wasn’t a passive store and has several active processes that manipulate info

Question 2

What are the parts of the wmm

Answer 2

• phonological loop
• Visvo - special sketch pad
• central executive
• episode buffer

Question 3

Explain the phonological loop

Answer 3

Consists of the phonological store and the articulately loop:

• the phonological store Uses sound based code to store info, but this info decays after about 2 seconds, unless It is rehearsed by the articulatory loop.

-An “articulatory loop” rehearses information verbally and has a time based capacity of about 2 seconds. [ It is helpful to think of the articulatory loop as the system that you use to mentally rehearse Info, by repeating it over and over again]

Question 4

Explain the visvo - special sketch pad

Answer 4

stores and manipulates visual info, input is from the eyes or LTM. If You imagine an object and then picture it rotating, you are using your viso- spacial sketchpad.

It has a subsystems:

· visual cache-stores visual data things that you see

· inner scribe - records the arrangement of objects in the visual field [ where they are ]

Question 5

Explain the central executive

Answer 5

• drives the system
• decides how attention is directed to particular tasks and allocates the resources (the phonological loop a viso-spacial sketchpad) to tasks.

-data arrives from the senses or from the LTM

-has limited storage capacity, so cannot attend to many
things at once.

Question 6

Explain the episode buffer

Answer 6

takes info from the other slave systems and adds info about time and order, ready for encoding to the ltm

Question 7

WMM diagram

Answer 7

Central executive
. |. /
V. V. V
Phonological <—> Episode <—>. Visvo-spacial
Loop Buffer Sketchpad

Then info moves into ltm

Question 8

A03 -Supported by scientific study (strength)

Answer 8

SHALICE and WARRINGTON’s (1970) case study of patient kf -suffered brain damage, After the damage, he had poor stm for verbal info but could process visual info normally.
- He had difficulty with sounds, but could recall letters and digits.
- suggests that his PL had been damaged but left other areas of the memory in tact (vss)
↳ this supports the model because it highlights the separation of the visual and acoustic stores

Question 9

A03 -Supported by scientific study (limitation)

Answer 9

• Brain damages patients have a uniques situation and cannot be morally or accurately replicated do decreases reliability
• his brain went through trauma so may also perform differently to un-damages brains, meaning that results are less generalisable

Question 10

A03- Concept of the central executive is vague

Answer 10

Component is unsatisfactory and doesn’t really explain anything:

• Bladdely himself recognised this as he stated that “the CE is the most important but least understood component of the working memory “
• the CE needs to be more clearly specified rather than just being attention but some psychologists believe that it could consist of several components
• Meaning the WMM has not been fully explained - so Is difficult to test due to vague explanation

Question 11

A03 - WMM isn’t a complete explanation of memory

Answer 11

Can be a limitation :
- the wmm only explains the stm aspect of memory which does not help us when wanting to understand how info is stored in the ltm
- It does not involve the movement of info to the ltm from the stm
IS ONLY A LIMITATION WHEN COMPARED TO THE MSM

Question 12

A03 - the WMM can explain learning differences

Answer 12

A strength
De Jong (2006):
- dyslexia involves defects in the PL and CE functioning, so affects childrens ability of learning through phonics. The ability to take apart and analyse sounds in words, requires the student to have a strong and active working memory, affecting spelling as well;
- shows distinct link between working memory and reading comprehension.
- can be used to help children with dyslexia in schools, so, has REAL LIFE APPLICATION

Question 13

Dual task experiments have been carried out

Answer 13

Strength
- studies of the dual task performance support the existance of vss.

Baddely of al (1975):
- showed that ppts had more difficulty doing two visual tasks, than doing both a visual and a verbal task at the same time
- this increased difficulty is because both visual tasks compete for the same slave system. But when completing verbal and visual tasks simultaneously, there is no competition.
-meaning that there must be separate slave systems which supports the Model.

Question 14

A03 - Brain scanning studies have been conducted

Answer 14

Strength
Braver (1997):
- When ppts performed a task that Involved the
CE while they were having a brain scan.
- The researchers found that there was greater activity in the left side of the prefrontal cortex.
- the activity in this area also increased as the tasks began to get harder.

↳ supports the wmm because as demands on the or increases, It has to work harder to fulfil its function.